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How Do Hips Affect Swing Plane?

How do your shoulders affect your swing plane? The answer is A Lot! Having had several students recently at Steel Canyon Golf Club who were struggling with getting under the swing plane on the down swing made me wonder. I wondered how often golfers think about what it is that is actually causing their club to get off plane.

Like anything in golf, there are many factors that can affect any number of things in your swing. If I told you that your grip or ball position affects your swing plane would you believe me? Well they do, as well as alignment, weight distribution, weight shift and hoards of other factors. But for players who really struggle with getting to shallow (coming too much from the inside and hitting block pushes and/or flip hooks, I think more thought needs to go into what path their hips are moving on during the down swing.

Think of yourself as a baseball hitter in the right hand batter’s box (reverse for left-handers). During the downswing if the left hip moves toward first base, the hands and the club will get stuck behind you and the club head path will be too much from in to out. To correct this, feel as through the hip is moving more towards the shortstop which will cause you to open up more and get the club head working more down the target line. From here, if the club face is pointed at the target long and straight will be the result.